What You Listen to Can Determine Your Mood and Your Fate

“Music lives in three tenses at once. Developing what comes before it in the past, it engages us in the present, and inspires our hopes for its future.”

~ Dave Matthews

What You Listen to Can Determine Your Mood and Your Fate

By Jeffrey Gitomer

Everyone has their own time machine.

The only question is: how are you using it?

The time machine I’m referring to is music. The music you grew up with and the music you listen to every day. I refer to it as the “music transportation department” because the right song can transport you back to an exact place and time in an instant – and create a great feeling.

In 1983, I went to an “oldies” concert in Philadelphia. A bunch of doo-wop groups reassembled to sing 25-year-old songs. The music I grew up with. The opening group was The Dubs who started the show singing “Could This Be Magic.” Please watch it here.

As I listened and sang along, I started to cry. It was the beginning of my true understanding of music. I’ve been a devout listener of doo-wop since 1955 and considered myself somewhat of an expert. But the memories it brought back were amazing. Overwhelming.

The Dubs provided my first recognized musical time machine, and I have been in the time machine warp ever since.

Fast forward to 2008. I started my subscription to a club here in Charlotte, North Carolina, called Music with Friends. They put on four concerts a year in a small venue (750 people) with great acoustics (actually an old converted church). I’ve got perfect seats (although there is not a bad seat in the house). And every event is TOTAL time machine music. Gladys Knight, Tony Bennett, Smokey Robinson, Hall & Oats, and Diana Ross to name a few.

Yes, I go to large arena music time machine events too. Carole King, Springsteen, and the incomparable Leonard Cohen.

And as a true music lover, I also see who and what is new. Justin Timberlake, Lady Gaga, Coldplay, Rhianna.

There’s magic in live music.

IMPORTANT MUSIC LESSON: Repetition is the mother of mastery. If you hear a song once, and you like it, you tap your foot to the music. After you hear that song five times, you can sing along. After you hear that song ten times, you can sing it on your own.

And if you hear that same song 20 years later, it instantly transports you back to the exact time and place you first heard it.

If I play the right song for you, I can take you back to your first date, first kiss, summer romance, travel, school, riding in a car, first wedding dance, even your first divorce.

In the late ’60s, one of the singer-songwriters I listened to most was Leonard Cohen. Compelling, clear, haunting music. In 1993, I was finishing the writing and editing of my Sales Bible in Hilton Head. Along with my editor, Rod Smith, and my cat Lito, I (we) listened to Leonard Cohen every day as the book was completed. Twenty years later I had a chance to see him live in Las Vegas. Sitting in the second row, the floodgates of memories and life opened. An amazing performance.

Last month we (my partner Jessica and I) flew to New Orleans to watch Leonard Cohen for the second time in two years. I could sing every song. It wasn’t just a concert. It was an emotional remembrance. The ’60s, The Sales Bible, the first concert, and this one. Very emotional. Very inspirational. Very impactful. Very life enhancing.

What’s your music?
What were you dancing to?
What are you dancing to?
What’s making your memories?
What’s keeping your memories alive?
What makes you cry with joy?
What makes you sing along (even if you can’t sing)?
What makes you stop and contemplate life?

SALES MUSIC: Music can also affect and impact your sales. Upbeat music makes the brain think and act upbeat. I prefer to call it “sales music” because it gets you in a positive mood and can provide that extra passionate push.

Don’t you wish your prospect was thinking, “Bob is going to be here soon, I better play some rock music so I’m in a great mood when he arrives.” IDEA: Why not send a few songs to your prospect and ask him or her to listen to them just prior to your arrival. Okay, that probably won’t happen, but you get the idea.

MUSIC ACTION PLAN:

Document your music memory makers and get that music onto your music player or phone.

Identify the music that makes you wanna dance and puts you in a great mood. Download it all and put it in a separate “sales music” file on your iPod.

Listen with the intent to be in a great frame of mind. A sales frame of mind.

I don’t know about you, but sales has always been music to my ears.

Coaching Call to Action

Let’s all get moving. What music did you choose from Jeff’s Action Plan? Share your favorite below so that we can all get into action!

Jeffrey Gitomer is the author of The Little Red Book of Selling. President of Charlotte-based Buy Gitomer, he gives seminars, runs annual sales meetings, and conducts Internet training programs on selling and customer service at www.gitomer.com. He can be reached at 704/333-1112 or e-mail to salesman@gitomer.com.